In 1933...
Many years ago when working on the Community Play, Many Hands, in Blyth, we discovered a speech that had been written in 1933. The Reeve who’d written and spoken it aloud in the Blyth Hall gave us permission to use it six decades later in 1993. We convinced the Reeve’s nephew, a successful farmer but rather reluctant thespian, to give the speech during the play. It turned out to be a highlight. Many Hands remains a significant cultural experience in my life, an event that brought together 150 local people in performance, dance and music, and then told the story of Huron County to 500 audience members each and every night for a two week run. Many Hands continues to tell its story.
In 1933 the Reeve had suggested the establishment of a conservation authority. It met with opposition from some, and complete support from others. The pro and con arguments grew and then raged on the street, in the cafes, down on the farms, and in the homes. Finally the Reeve decided it was time to bring everybody together: to have it out. The Blyth Memorial Community Hall was booked, 600 people packed the 500 seat theatre, and hundreds more gathered in the courtyard surrounding the building - the Hall windows were thrown open, so those on the lawn could be a part of the ‘discussion’. The only thing the Reeve asked was that he be given the last word – anyone who had something to say on the subject was given time and space to do so. The meeting went on for hours, goes the report, with shouts from the house, applause, jeers, declarations from the stage, hoots, hollers, and when it was time for the Reeve to step up he said this (among other things):
"It’s easy to get along with those you agree with, the difficult thing is to get along with those you don’t."
I was once asked: can you divorce idea from personality? Can you hear a good idea when it’s offered from someone you are in conflict with? How do you think we’re doing in getting along with those we don’t agree with? And perhaps, as importantly, with those that we do. How open are we to a good idea – regardless of the quarter from where it comes?
Where-ever we place ourselves in the spectrum of guiding attitudes and sensibilities, agreement and disagreement, hearing the good idea, I believe the opportunity is here for us to dig down a bit deeper -- and offer up counterpoint that's nuanced, informed, and if we have our radar working properly, perhaps even enlightened.
'But the desire to comprehend eventually overpowered the desire to be a fan or evangelist.' Ta-Nehisi Coates